These Small Hours
by Lost In The Arts
Summary: If getting lost then found by her brothers wasn't enough , now Kagome, traveling to the kingdom with said brothers, is pulled into the inner workings of the castle- a dangerus place to be. Can she save the ones she loves from falling, or will she fall?


**Disclaimer:**

I, in no right, have any claim to any character of this story,

I am but a girl who writes, yet not for the glory.

I imagine and create, ponder and wonder,

But for what, you ask?

Well, the truth is, I've been given a task"

To let my soul be free.

So I plea to thee,

Do not sue me.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter One: Little Wonders<strong>_

Kagome gave a sigh of relief when she finally found a place to stay for the night. She was tired, drenched, and hungry. Those three things put together spelled trouble for her and she knew it. She may seem invincible on the outside, but deep down she was _normal._ Okay, as normal as a girl who grew up with three guys can be.

Setting her knapsack down on the rocky floor, she plopped down and leaned against the cave wall. Staring at the dark, cloudy sky, she felt the day's weight on her shoulders.

So maybe it _was_ a bad thing that she didn't get out of the forest before night fell; and maybe it _would_ have been a good thing to have taken her horse and some food with her. But did she? No. So now, one thing was very clear to her: she was lost. The rain had cleansed the air, so she couldn't follow a scent to get back. But did she care? Just a little bit.

It wasn't her fault she decided to go for a walk, get distracted by a butterfly, follow it, fall down a cliff, sprained her ankle and got a long cut on her leg, and end up in the middle of a spooky and scary forest after dark. Nope; not one bit.

If anyone asked her, she would blame it on karma. Yep, karma, or her brothers; they are usually the things that get her in trouble when the time comes.

Sure, she riled up Naraku, who somehow got their older brother Ryota involved, by taunting and teasing him; and sure she is the one who set fire to Akai's bed(while he was still in it), but isn't it her job as the younger sibling to annoy the crap out of her elder siblings?

The three of them then ganged up on her and tickled her mercilessly; so she did the simplest thing and ran away. Easy for her, right? Wrong. She apparently ran so far that she got _lost_ and followed what looked to be an abandoned trail to a field full of bright flowers of varying colors. After that she found a butterfly, though it wasn't like anything she had ever seen before. Just one glance to her breath away as it flew around carelessly.

She could tell it wasn't natural just by its transparent blue wings and clear white body. Yet, she was so drawn towards the small creature. It made no sense to follow it, but she did it anyway, ignoring the way her body had protested from exhaustion.

After that all kinds of things (unfortunate things in her case) happened and she ended up in the cave. No food, no extra clothing to change into, and no companions; doesn't that sound pleasant?

Kagome heaved out another sigh as she curled into a ball to try and savor some warmth. She wondered if her brothers had found out she wasn't at the manor anymore, or if they even cared that she was gone. Probably not; if anything they were still mad at her for her earlier actions and couldn't care less about her. That thought brought tears to her eyes. Even if she didn't show it, she loved her brothers and would do anything in her power to help them; even if it meant that she had to take down a kingdom, or the world.

She felt something soft land on her arm and let out a small chuckle escape her mouth when she noticed it was the butterfly from earlier. Letting it climb onto her finger, she brought it to eye level.

"Decided to keep me company did you?" she asked the insect. It seemed to say yes by flapping its wings delicately. She smiled and used her other hand to gently caress the butterfly's little body with her finger.

Looking closer at the butterfly, she noticed that although its wings were blue, they were varying shades that faded into each other from darkest to lightest starting from the tip of the wing to the tail. The white body seemed to be furry and soft to the touch. Narrowing her eyes, she noticed that small shards of crystal were scattered through the fur. It was bigger than most butterflies she saw, almost as big as a pigeon.

"You are an odd little creature. Yet you seem so pure, so untouched by the world around you. Like you live in your own little world, by your own time," Kagome told it. She giggled when it flew to her head and landed in her hair. "I ponder if you ever have to worry about pleasing those around you." It beat its wings in her hair, ruffling it up more than it already was.

"I wonder, and would be astonished, if you have any family members that you care deeply for as I do, Little Sprite. You have such a carefree feeling about you, but all beings seem to have something they care much about. Like a mother and a child, or the best of friends. No matter what, everyone has someone to lean on incase of some misfortune." She felt the tiny creature crawl from her head to her shoulder. Its wings seemed to droop as if it were sad. Kagome understood it somehow but thought nothing of it.

"So you don't, huh? Well then don't worry about it, if you ever need a shoulder to land on, you can just stay with me. Does that seem like an okay thing, Little Sprite?" The butterfly flew back to her hand. "I'll take that as a yes."

After that, they sat in silence, listening to the pattering of the rain on the stone. The butterfly had moved back to sit atop her shoulder. Kagome let her head roll to the side, looking at the mouth of the cave, wishing that at least one of her brothers was looking for her. She had so many What If'sgoing through her head.

What if her brothers forgot about her? What if she was never found? What if she was to never see her family again? What if a demon came? She forgot her sword at home and could do the bare minimum with just her hands and claws. A quiet sob escaped her lips as silent tears raced down her face.

She clenched her fists, refusing to believe any of her thoughts. She had faith in her brothers. They would find her and scold her as they always do when she gets into trouble. When they find her they will each hug her like when they were little when Mother had been killed, and they would sit together with her, just talking about the little things in life that they all cherish. They would laugh at each other for embarrassing things that would always seem to happen to them.

She roughly wiped away the tears with one of her hands and settled herself comfortably against the wall. It wouldn't do to keep thinking negatively. All she had to do was look forward to tomorrow; when she _will_ be reunited with her brothers and she _will_ go home. All she had to do was to wait.

"So you're saying you want to wait here while our _baby sister_ is out there alone with no food, no water, and no means of protection?" Naraku yelled in outrage, pacing in front of the fire place. His ruby eyes were flickering in every direction to find something to let his pent up energy out. It's been ten hours since Kagome had been announced as a missing person and the whole manor has been in an uproar. The maids have been busing themselves with chores as to not worry and the butlers have been searching the village nearby for anyone who might have seen her.

Ryota sighed as his grey eyes watched his younger brother walk back and forth. "Calm down, Naraku. Akai has gone to search the surrounding forest and will be back in an hour or so. I'm sure Kagome is safe; have a little faith in her. She knows how to take care of herself," he said evenly. Naraku looked at him in shock.

"Do you even care about her? Do you even care that she could be injured and dying out there? Do you-"

"Of course I care, damn it! She's my little sister, too! But just walking around and worrying about her isn't going to help her in the least. If you really want to help, you will come with me so we can await her return. I'm very sure she will be hungry and tired when she gets here." Ryota ordered. He rose from his seated position and briskly walked towards the door.

"Remember," Ryota started again, turning back to his brother, "that, as she believes in us, we have to believe in her." With that he walked out the door. Naraku stared at where Ryota last stood for several moments. Punching the wall beside him, and leaving a slight dent in the brick, he quickly ran after his brother.

"Kagome, can you hear me? Kagome," Akai continued to scream into the rain drenched trees surrounding him. He quickly followed a small, worn out trail that he was hoping she took. He had tied up his horse a while ago to continue on foot seeing as though the foliage was too rough for the beast to go through.

Pushing through more bushes he whipped his head around, his hair slapping him in the face. Still no signs of where that girl, his _sister_, had gone. An owl hooted to his left, a bush rustled to his right, and a bell chimed from behind him. Wait, a bell?

Turning his head back towards the foliage behind him, he saw what looked to be a small girl but the age of five in a white dress. Though it was dark around them, she seemed to glow. Taking a step towards her, he called out to her.

"Excuse me!" he shouted to her, stepping closer. She looked at him with wide green eyes and giggled, twirling further away. "Hey, wait!"

She continued to lead him through growth; every time he got closer, she danced away, still giggling. He continued to chase her until she just seemed to vanish into thin air. He looked around for a hint that she was nearby, but gave up when he found none. Looking up, he found a cave lying ahead of him.

"Kagome, are you in there?" he shouted into it, his voice echoing. A small almost inaudible groan was his response as he rushed into the cave's mouth. Inside, he found what he was looking for. A girl who looked no older than fifteen sat slumped against the wall with a long gash running down her left leg and her raven black hair ruffled and messed up. "Kagome," he breathed out.

Her heavy eyelids opened at the sound of a familiar voice, revealing mismatched silver and blue eyes- something inherited from her father, she was told. "A-Akai-nii…" She turned towards him, left hand reaching out. He rushed towards her and knelt down beside her, encasing her in a bear hug. "Akai-nii…I'm…so…hungry," she said. He gave her a blank look.

"No, really; you've been for almost the whole afternoon and night and you're hungry? I would have never guessed," he said sarcastically. Kagome brought her mismatched eyes to his light blue and smiled.

"I missed you, Akai-nii," she spoke softly, her head leaning against his chest. Akai looked at her with soft eyes.

"Me too, kiddo. Now let's get you home." Kagome just hummed in agreement before drifting to sleep, forgetting about the little creature that had kept her company most of the night.


End file.
